Dollar down, E-bay profits up...

So I was checking out this article on BBC.com's business site.

And it appears that the weak dollar is turniung into solid profits for E-bay and most likely E-bay sellers.

According to the article:

"EBay's net income rose to $459.7m (£233m) in the first three months of 2008 from
$377.1m in the same period a year earlier."

Now if Only I can figure out how to start selling things on E-bay without getting burned. Only time will tell.

Lesson learned: If selling stuff on e-bay - sell it yourself.

OK the title may seem self-evident and obvious but, I was confused and to be honest, scared of the daunting E-bay business model. I didn't know how I was supposed to advertise, what kind of pictures I should post up, if I needed a certain kind if 'rating' to sell anything, how hard it might be to find someones address and package my stuff.

Well now, I honestly wish I had just asked my co-worker who is a semi-pro (hundreds-to-thousands-sold-a-month) on E-bay for help.

A few weeks ago I sold my childhood playthings, a huge set of G.I. Joe's, through a 'brick& mortar' e-bay re-sale store. They did all of the marketing, photography, packaging, etc...in exchange of 33% of the profit ( or so I thought) from an eventual sale. Now I at first thought 'hey 33% is not that bad of a surcharge for ignorance'.


So I waited, and then I waited and then I waited some more, all the time figuring 33% is an OK bullet to bite - but not much more than that.

When I got tired of waiting, and had time to complain, I went into the store which I dropped my childhood playthings off at and asked what was taking so long.

The guy at the counter - the same fidgety, gloomy guy who I dropped the things off with initially - stood there and said "well your 4 weeks of waiting is about average, your check for 55% of the value has been issued"

THAT's right after looking down at the even smaller print it appears there are 5-12% of additional fees on top of the stores cut.

So not only did i have to wait 4 weeks to get my money, I paid about 45% of my profit for the privilege of being ignorant.

That's why next time I sell something online I'll be selling it myself. Sometimes ignorance can be blissful but, in this instance it just kept getting more and more expensive.

Progress Report - for week ended 10/21/07

1. Sell more things on E-bay - still haven't received my check back from 'i sold it on e-bay'! I didn't get a chance to go in and inquire about it this past week but, I need to this week. I was talking to one of my co-workers who sells things on e-bay and he said that he's made more this month than what he makes at my 1st job - in the future I believe I'll sell things myself and not rely on a sell-for-you E-bay service.
   
2. Make $100 in alternative income - I'm starting to see a little bit more of a return from Google and other sources but it's still under the $10 mark.
   
3. Raise net worth above $8000 (again) - even though the month isn't over yet I don't foresee hitting this goal at all at this point. This is due in large part because after a long conversation with my girlfriend ...I decided to propose, she said 'yes' - and then went out and bought a ring - on credit :( - with her in tow. It hasn't hit me yet but judging by her reaction it definitely hit her - by now she has contacted all of the inhabitants of her native land and then some...I love her though and I can finally tell her about this blog.
   
4. Apply/try out for 3 finance related freelancing jobs -SUCCESS I sent out 3 'feeler' e-mails to different online sites that are accepting freelancers. still no response though.
   
5. Pay off remainder of debt/collection - SUCCESS - I paid this off the other week.